Hong Kong media talk about the PLA's military exercises on the platform: the mainland's sharp sword is hanging high, and the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces must rein in on the precipice

The "United Sword - 2024A" military exercise around the platform, which began on the 23rd in the eastern theater of the mainland, continues today. According to public opinion, the exercise fully demonstrated the strong deterrent ability and regional rejection ability of the PLA.

PLA "United Sword - 2024A" military exercise poster

According to the Hong Kong China Review Service, this military exercise is the same as the military exercise held on the mainland after Pelosi, who was then the speaker of the US House of Representatives in August 2022. Both exercises were very loud, but "encircle rather than fight". When and under what circumstances did the mainland go from military exercises on the platform to decisive action? The Taiwan Affairs Office gave the answer yesterday.

Chen Binhua, spokesman of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the People's Republic of China, said on the 23rd that the PLA exercises around Taiwan Island are a firm punishment for Taiwan leaders' "May 20" speech to seek "independence" provocation, a stern warning for foreign forces to connive at supporting "Taiwan independence" and interfere in China's internal affairs, a just act to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. If the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces are determined to act or even take risks, The mainland will resolutely smash the separatist plot of "Taiwan independence" and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It can be said that the day when the "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces are determined to act or even take risks is the day when the mainland makes a decisive move. The unity of the mainland is hanging high, and the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces must rein in on the precipice.

The article believes that under the current situation, the "United Sword 2024A" military exercise around the platform in the eastern theater is only the first step for the mainland to deter and punish "Taiwan independence" after the "May 20". The next step for the mainland may not be what the outside world can guess. As for how big the action is, it depends on the reaction of the new Taiwan authorities and what external forces will do in the Taiwan Strait in the future.

On related topics, Li Zhengjie, a retired major general of the Taiwan Army who once served as commander of Lieyu (Little Kinmen), said that in addition to surrounding Taiwan's home island, the mainland specifically mentioned the two islands of Dongyin and Wuqiu, which is very serious. If the island falls or loses the missile protection function, the coastline in northern Taiwan will fall into a defensive vacuum. Therefore, it is of great significance for the mainland to list the eastward approach as the scope of exercises. In addition to Wuqiu Island, Li Zhengjie said that the number of residents on Wuqiu Island is not large, and the military defense capability is not strong. If the PLA wanted to take this island, it would be as easy as pie.

Li Zhengjie also said that the name of the exercise was "United Sword - 2024A", and he paid special attention to the latter A, whether it means there will be continuous exercises such as BCD this year, so this is just a beginning with great possibility.

In addition, in the exercise subject of this mainland military exercise, Li Zhengjie said that another special thing is that ships and aircraft approaching the battle patrol around Taiwan not only cross the "middle line of the Straits", but may even approach the critical area of 24 nautical miles, or enter Taiwan's so-called "territorial sea" and "airspace", which must be followed up.

Extended Reading

Media: The mainland is completely disappointed with Lai Qingde or takes back control of several outlying islands first

Schematic Diagram of the "United Sword - 2024A" Military Exercise Area in the Eastern Theater of the PLA

Direct news: Mr. Liu, the eastern theater of the People's Liberation Army announced to launch the "Joint Sword 2024A" military exercise around Taiwan Island. According to your observation, what is the difference between this military exercise and the past?

Special commentator Liu Heping: After reading and considering the press release issued by the eastern war zone word for word, I believe that the PLA's military exercise can be described as "unprecedented", which in turn indicates that the Taiwan Strait crisis triggered by Lai Qingde's "May 20" speech will surpass any other in history, including Li Denghui's "Two Countries Theory" in 1996 The speech at Cornell University in the United States, as well as the PLA's "military exercise around the island" triggered by Pelosidon Island, then the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in 2022, are not comparable to this one.

The first is the timing and time of the military exercise, which took place just two days after Lai Qingde delivered his "May 20" speech. It can be said that the connection between the two has almost reached the point of seamless docking. I think this also reflects that the mainland has been completely disappointed with Lai Qingde and is not prepared to give Lai Qingde any observation period of "observing what he says and what he does". In other words, the mainland has already taken the attitude of "throwing off illusions and preparing for battle" to Lai Qingde. At the same time, although the exercise lasted only two days, I believe careful viewers have found that the eastern theater added an "A" after the name of the "United Sword 2024" exercise, and there are 25 letters after the "A", which means that the PLA will put military pressure on Lai Qingde and take military exercise measures next, Will pour in like mountains and seas.

Secondly, during this exercise, the Eastern Theater of Operations not only deployed all arms including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Corps, but also exercised all disciplines including joint sea and air combat readiness patrol, joint seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, and joint strike of key targets. What's more, the Eastern Theater of Operations clearly stated that, This time, the PLA will send ships and aircraft to patrol around Taiwan Island. This means that the PLA will send warships and aircraft to approach Taiwan's island indefinitely.

Relevant pictures of the "United Sword - 2024A" military exercise in the eastern theater of the PLA

Direct news: We see that the scope of this exercise in the Eastern Theater of War not only covers the Taiwan Strait, the northern, southern and eastern parts of Taiwan Island, but also covers the surrounding areas of Jinmen Island, Mazu Island, Wuqiu Island and Dongyin Island. What kind of political and military signals do you think are sent behind this?

Special commentator Liu Heping: In my opinion, this is exactly the biggest difference between the PLA's military exercise this time and the Taiwan crisis caused by Lee Teng hui's "Two Countries Theory" last time, as well as the "military exercise surrounding Taiwan" caused by Pelosi's island landing. In the first two military exercises, the PLA "encircled" Taiwan mainly by launching medium - and long-range missiles. This time, the PLA not only sent out a rocket army, but also used warships and aircraft to encircle the island of Taiwan during the "encirclement military exercise" in the eastern theater. In addition, it is worth noting that in addition to encircling the island of Taiwan, the PLA also specifically listed several islands that are actually controlled by Taiwan, including Jinmen, Mazu, Wuqiu Island and Dongyin Island, which are closest to the mainland. That is to say, in this "military exercise around Taiwan", the PLA will not only encircle the island of Taiwan, but also separate and encircle Jinmen, Mazu, Wuqiu Island and Dongyin Island, cutting off their ties with the island of Taiwan, as well as between the four islands. In my opinion, this is not just a general "whole process drill", but also reveals the steps and methods of the PLA's future operations in the Taiwan Strait. That is, if Lai Qingde is still stubborn in the future and goes further and further on the road of "Taiwan independence", the PLA will most likely take the "sausage cutting" approach in the future, first step by step to recover the actual control of these outlying islands, and finally to recover the actual control of Taiwan itself.

In addition, there is something that has never appeared before in this exercise, that is, the administrative law enforcement force of the mainland, the maritime police, also participated in the exercise, that is, the Fujian maritime police organized the fleet to carry out comprehensive law enforcement exercises in the waters near Wuqiu Island and Dongyin Island. The signal behind this is that in the event of a major "Taiwan independence" incident, the first step of the mainland is not to take back Jinmen and Mazu, but to take back Wuqiu Island and Dongyin Island, which are smaller than Jinmen and Mazu, to show the punishment and warning to Lai Qingde, and the mainland believes that it is not necessary to use a oxknife to kill chickens, and the People's Liberation Army is not needed to complete this step, It is enough for the coast guard and even the Fujian local coast guard to come forward.

The picture shows Lai Qingde, the "leader" of Taiwan

Direct news: After the announcement of the "United Sword - 2024A" military drill in the Eastern Theater, the spokesman of Lai Qingde's office expressed regret and said that maintaining regional peace and stability is the common responsibility and goal of both sides of the Straits. What do you think about this?

Special commentator Liu Heping: I don't think Lai Qingde could have said that if he had been a little bit cheeky. As the saying goes, every grievance has its head and every debt has its owner. On the cross-strait issue, military is just an extension of politics. It is precisely because the political situation has worsened, that is, Lai Qingde has crossed the line on the road of "Taiwan independence", that there will be military pressure from the mainland. Moreover, the escalation of the mainland's military pressure is rising step by step with the escalation of Lai Qingde's "Taiwan independence" behavior. In other words, the abrupt escalation of the situation across the Taiwan Strait was entirely caused by Lai Qingde's "Taiwan independence confession" in his "May 20" speech. Under such circumstances, are you willing to appeal to both sides of the Taiwan Straits to jointly maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits? If the Taiwan Strait crisis really evolves into a Taiwan Strait war, I wonder whether Lai Qingde can stand the cost? This is called "If you had known this before, why did you start?".

It is worth noting that the Eastern Theater has made it clear that this exercise is a strong punishment for the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces seeking "independence", and a serious warning of interference and provocation by external forces. In other words, this exercise is not only aimed at Lai Qingde, but also aimed at the United States, which supports and connives at Lai Qingde. This also means that in this Taiwan Strait crisis, in addition to Lai Qingde himself, the United States should also reflect on its responsibilities.

The picture shows the flag of China and the United States. China announced sanctions against 12 companies associated with the United States military

Direct News: What do you think of the Chinese announcement of sanctions against 12 companies associated with the US military?

Special commentator Liu Heping: I noticed that from China's anti economic and trade action against the United States, especially among the 12 enterprises selected during the anti economic action, we can see that China wants to achieve the effect of one arrow and three eagles: the first is to counter the economic coercion of the United States against China, that is, to counter the Biden government's earlier announcement that it will take measures against the Chinese products, including electric vehicles The "new three types", including lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, impose high tariffs; Second, the United States earlier imposed sanctions on some Chinese enterprises on the pretext that Chinese enterprises had assisted Russia, especially helped Russia rebuild its military industry system, for which China also had to take countermeasures; Third, because these American enterprises participated in the arms sales to Taiwan and helped arm Taiwan.

The political signals we can interpret from this are: first, after Lai Qingde made the "confession of Taiwan independence" in his "May 20" speech, the Chinese mainland immediately sanctioned American enterprises involved in arms sales to Taiwan, which means that the "small cross-strait" between the Taiwan Strait and the "big cross-strait" between the Pacific Ocean, or the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan and the Sino US relations, Is producing linkage effect; Second, the United States has sanctioned Chinese enterprises on the ground of so-called support for the reconstruction of Russia's military industrial system, while China has sanctioned American enterprises on the ground of participation in arms sales to Taiwan, which means that the situation between Russia and Ukraine is having some subtle linkage effect with the situation in the Taiwan Strait. The United States wants to contain China by upgrading the situation in the Taiwan Strait and ultimately affect the situation between Russia and Ukraine; Third, it means that the game between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, the game between China and the United States, the game between Russia and Ukraine, and the game between the United States and Russia have been intertwined to some extent, and the battlefield of the game has political, diplomatic and military levels, as well as economic levels. I believe that if the United States does not take effective measures to control such a situation, the future situation will be worrying.